New Year's Resolutions Gone Awry
by autumnmist715
Summary: New Year's resolutions are supposed to be kept. But what happens when they aren't?
1. The Presents

It was Christmas morning and the students at Hogwarts were awake and unwrapping their presents in their common rooms. While the Head students could have joined their houses to open their gifts, this year's Heads decided to exchange theirs in the Head Common Room, and then join their friends afterwards.

"Draco, open mine first! Here, here!"

"Aiight, aiight! Sheesh, Granger, give me a sec to sit down. Okay, hand it over."

Hermione eagerly passed her gift to Draco and bounced a bit in her armchair. "Openopenopen!"

"Who spiked your eggnog this morning, Granger? You're hyper…"

"I didn't have eggnog this morning! I had a glass of that drink that the elves were offering, just for Christmas! It kind of looked like cranberry juice, smelled like hot chocolate with mini marshmallows, and tasted a bit like spiced apple cider! Yum…." [_drifts off thinking about it_]

"'Ey, Granger! Presents! Remember?"

[_squeeeee_] "PRESENTS!!!" [_glomp_]

"AUGH! GRANGER! I think you smushed my present!"

"Oh. Sorry."

"Okay, here goes… [_pause_] [_ripping paper_] Nice wrap job. Love the Santa sheep… [_pulls off paper and looks at present_] A leash? Uh, Granger? What'm I gonna do with this?" [_kind of confused and very wary about Hermione's answer_]

"[_muahahahahahahaaa_]"

"Granger, you're really starting to scare me… I think I'll go down to the Slytherin Common Room for a while, until that cran-choco-cider drink wears off…" [_inches away_]

"Oh, Draco… the rest of your present is at Hagrid's. This was all I could bring in the castle."

"O-oh. [_sigh of relief_] That's good. Wait—the rest of my present… will it bite, scratch, or eat me? Never mind, you can show me after you open your gift. Here."

"Oooh! It's big! And shiny! And… [_gets ready to shake box_] heavy… [_just about to shake—"_

"GRANGER! _Don't shake the box_!!!"

[_startled_] "Okay. [_opens lid_] OH MY GOODNESS! DRACO! He's adorable!!! A puppy! How'd you get him in the castle?!? They didn't let me bring—"

"Bring what? Bring what _where_? Uh oh…"

olololo

"Look, Ginny! Isn't he _cute_?"

"Who, Draco or the puppy? And how'd you get the dog in here? I thought that only—"

"Yeah, only cats, toads, and owls. But they made an exception for Draco. I think I need to talk to Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall…"

"Why?"

"I was told by Snape that I had to leave Draco's present at Hagrid's. I wasn't allowed to bring her into the castle…"

"Oh. Well, Hermione, why'd you ask _Snape_? Whatever. So, what're you going to name this fuzzy cutie?"

"[_sighs_] I'm not sure… I think I'll go with… Maybe… Hm…"

"You keep thinking. Did you show Draco his present yet?"

"Nope. I'm going right after I showed off my puppy… an' he's such a cootie pie, isn' 'e? Yes, 'e is! Aww… look at that fa-ace… [_continues to coo gibberish to the wide awake puppy_]"

"Hermione! You finally got here! Are you going to op—what is _that_?"

"Gee, Ron, it's a hairy vacuum cleaner, would ya look at that."

"Ginny, no need to be sarcastic; I'm sure he's just wondering why there's a dog in Hermione's arms… why _**is**_ Hermione carrying a dog?"

"Draco got him for me for Christmas! Isn't he just too adorable, Harry? Here, pet his fuzzy little head… nonono! You have to let him smell your hand first! You can't just—Harry, where'd all that info about Hippogriffs go? You have to let the animal approve of you first! Oy…"

"Well, sor-ry. I've never been around a dog before."

"Oh. Yeah. Sorry, Harry. It's just that… I've got it! Ginny! The perfect name! Meet Griff, Griffin. Griffin, say hi!"

"Hi, Griffin!"

"I think Ron's… uh… I think Ron needs some assistance…"

"RON! What're you doing on the floor?!?"

"Malfoy… puppy… Hermione… present… [_passes back out_]"

olololo

"TADA!"

"… Well. Heh. No wonder you acted so surprised when you opened your present… heh heh…"

Both Hermione and Draco looked at each other and burst out laughing.

See, Hermione's present to Draco was… a puppy.

A little female pup he named Gwendolyn.


	2. The Resolutions

Several years later:

Hermione and Draco Malfoy were getting ready to head out for the evening. Their friends Blaise and Ginny were hosting a New Year's Eve party at their mansion.

"Draco! Have you seen my blue high heels? You know, the ones with the black bows on the side?"

"No. Where's my party tie, Hermione? I put it back in the closet after the last time I wore it, but now it's not there!"

"Oh, you're not going to wear _that_ are you? I mean, really. For someone who prides himself on always making Witch Weekly's Best Dressed Wizard list, you sure do have strange taste in ties! That blasted 'party tie' is hideous! Please, please don't wear that."

"But, 'Mione! Potter and Weasley like it. Even Blaise laughs when he sees it! It's funny!"

[_rolls eyes and sighs_] "They're laughing 'cause it's aah-ful."

"Naah. You're just jealous you don't have anything like it."

"Ha! Trust me, there's no wa-ay you're going to get me anywhere near something that repulsive. Hey, Draco? Don't forget to let Griff and Gwennie out before we leave!"

olololo

"Luna, dear, you look magnificent! And Pansy! That dress! Where'd you find it?!? Gin, get your butt out of that kitchen! We'll help you with everything after you come say hi and see what Draco got me for Christmas—I think it just might beat Ron's gift to Pansy last year! Come look!"

olololo

"Hey, Drake. What'd you get her that she's so 'cited?"

"Malfoy. You aren't wearing your party tie… what happened, Hermione burn it 'accidentally'?"

"I designed her a necklace, Blaise. And Weasley, my Hermione would never do that to my tie! She knows I love that thing."

[_laughs_] "Draco, mate, you should know better by now… by the way, did your tie just up and disappear?"

"Why, Harry, yes it did. But I'm sure I just misplaced it."

Harry, Ron, and Blaise all burst out laughing.

"_What??_"

olololo

The girls were all huddled together, whispering…

"So Hermione, how come Draco isn't wearing that damn awful tie this year? God, I hate that thing. You know his father passed it down to him when he turned seventeen. Draco tried to wear it to the Graduation Ball and I threatened to make him go with Millie if he wore that while I was still his housemate. Granger, you'd better be grateful that I kept him from wearing that. It'd have totally clashed with your dress. [_sighs_] I'll never understand the Malfoy men's taste in ties. That thing's been in the family for generations, and it just keeps getting more and more… gleck!"

"Mayhaps, it's the Glinkaltuffs. They have a tendency to find ugly apparel and try to make it prettier… except that it seems they have awful fashion sense."

"Maybe, Luna; and yes, Pans, I'm very glad you kept him from wearing that _thing_ to the Grad Ball. [_shudder_] [_chuckles conspiratorially_] I hid it this year… I couldn't bear him wearing it to yet another party. Augh. So I stuffed it into that dreadful ancient vase that his parents thought would be a great wedding gift—you know the one? Then I stuck a bouquet in the vase and made sure that they were the types of plants that make Draco sneeze. He didn't go anywhere _near_ that vase."

"Nice job, 'Mione! Oh! The lamb! And the cookies! And the—"

"Yeah, Gin, we're going, we're going… Oh, did I tell you? Draco _**designed**_ my Christmas present this year… see, look…"

olololo

After dinner and lots of talk about babies (Luna, Ginny, and Pansy _all_ were pregnant, though to varying degrees… Ginny was the biggest at eight months, Pansy somewhat smaller at six months, and Luna a close third at five and a half; they'd made the party at Blaise and Ginny's 'cause of her size… flooing and apparating weren't very safe for such a pregnant woman), the group decided to share their New Year's resolutions, with the reasoning that the more people who knew the resolutions, the easier it would be for each of them to keep on track. Each couple took their turn describing what their resolutions were; Draco and Hermione were the last to go.

"Draco and I plan to get better organized this upcoming year. We've got so many things on our to-do list that we've been falling behind on all the holiday things that need doing. I mean, there are holiday parties to plan, gifts to get—"

"—parents to visit—"

"—we've **got** to clean out our offices at work (as the executives of Malfoy, Inc, you'd think we'd have neater desks…)—"

"—go over those last few cabinets of files, fix up the house a bit—"

"—help you guys with all your housework and things since you guys are so huge right now…"

"—what else are we forgetting…"

"Oh! We need to get Griff and Gwennie fixed this year! That's what we have to remember…"


End file.
